Does not the case of David instruct thee, whom God
“found a man after His heart,”4774771 Sam. xvi. 13; Ps. lxxxix. 20, seqq.; Acts
xiii. 22.
one faithful, faultless, pious, true? This same man saw the
beauty of a woman—I mean of Bathsheba—when he saw her as
she was cleansing herself and washing unclothed. This woman the
holy man saw, and was thoroughly478478Lit.
“verily.” captivated
with desire by the sight of her.479479 “By the
pleasure derived from the sight of
her.”—Beelen. See,
then, what evils he committed because of a woman, and how this
righteous man sinned, and gave command that the husband of this woman
should be killed in battle. Ye have seen what wicked schemes he
laid and executed, and how, because of his passion for a woman,
he perpetrated a murder—he, David, who was called
“the anointed of the Lord.”480480Ps. xviii. 50; 2 Sam. xix. 21. Be admonished, O man: for, if
such men as these have been brought to ruin through women, what is
thy righteousness, or what art thou among the holy, that thou
consortest with women and with maidens day and night, with much
silliness, without fear of God? Not thus, my brethren, not
thus let us conduct ourselves; but let us be mindful of that word which
is spoken concerning a woman: “Her hands lay snares, and
her heart spreadeth nets; but the just shall escape from her, whilst
the wicked falleth into her hands.”481481Eccl. vii. 26. Therefore let us, who are
consecrated,482482Lit.
“holy.” be careful not
to live in the same house with females who have taken the vow.
For such conduct as this is not becoming nor right for the servants of
God.